Finding Shaun
by EOsman
Summary: Exact same story line, characters and order of the Fallout 4 game. Except this involves not only what you saw on the screen but what the M!SS is thinking, seeing, etc. Basically a book version of the game. I do not own most of the speech, nor do I own the characters, places and specific terminology used from the game. Duh. Please enjoy.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE:

 _War. War never changes._

 _In the year 1945 my great-grandfather, serving in the army, wondered when he'd get to go home to his wife and the son he'd never seen. He got his wish when the US ended World War II by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The world awaited Armageddon. Instead… something miraculous happened._

 _We began to use atomic energy not as a weapon, but as a nearly limitless source of power. People enjoyed luxuries once thought the realm of science fiction: domestic robots, fusion-powered cars, portable computers._

 _But then, in the twenty-first century, people awoke from the American dream. Years of consumption led to shortages of every major resource. The entire world unraveled. Peace became a distant memory._

 _It is now the year 2077. We stand on the brink of total war._

 _And I am afraid._

 _For myself, for my wife, for my infant son. Because if my time in the army taught me one thing… it's that war – war never changes._

…

"War never changes," I repeat, testing the words in my mouth as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes look a little sunken; I'm tired from the past few sleepless nights. Need a shave. Maybe a haircut, too.

"You're gonna knock 'em dead at the veteran's hall tonight, hon," Nora says brightly, walking into the bathroom behind me and peering at my reflection over my shoulder. Her presence improves my mood significantly – it always has.

Nora and I go way back. We were friends in school, we graduated together, but then we parted ways for a while. She went to college to study law, while I ventured into the army.

I saw things there that changed me entirely.

All the friends I'd used to have didn't seem to recognize me anymore, and I couldn't seem to recognize them. How could they understand the terror of the middle east; the parentless children and childless parents? How could they understand that it's never really over, that the war could soon be right on their doorstep if not for people like me? _War never changes_ , I told them. But they never really got it.

So I drifted away from everyone. Everyone except Nora.

We ran into each other again at a reunion eight years after we'd graduated, she still planning to become a lawyer and I already a crew-cut soldier. The relief of talking to someone who _really_ knew me was incredible. She was still the same bubbly, dark-haired beauty I remembered from school. And there was still this calm aura about her that told of confidence and maturity – a deep understanding of all walks of life. She was Nora. And she became the love of my life.

We spent the next few years in a bubble of happiness, often punctuated by the melancholy of me leaving to go off to war again and again, each time returning unharmed. And then… she was pregnant. We would be having a child. Hopefully with her looks and her smarts and maybe my talent for getting into trouble. I married her immediately, knowing that my dreams had come true. And I unlisted from the army, knowing that whatever happened I would be there for my gorgeous wife and my first child. I would not be estranged to him, absent and mysterious. I would be a true father.

And I have been. But that doesn't stop me from being scared. War is coming, whether we like it or not. Tensions are running high: we see tanks rolling down the street, vertibirds humming over the cities; soldiers stationed at every outpost. And if a war does come, I know that there's very little I'll be able to do to protect my family. Because they will take me and make me fight. I will have no choice. And I will die. I will never see my son age, become a young man like me, fall in love like I did, start a family like I did. And I will never again see my wife.

These are the reasons I haven't been sleeping lately. Not because of the war I fought in, but because of the one I know is coming. Nora and I have sat up hours into the night talking, whispering in the darkness. If I die, I know Nora will carry on and do her best to take care of Shaun, and vice versa. These are the sorts of conversations you have on the brink of war. Morbid, dark. I love Nora with all of my heart and I know for certain I will never love anyone else. And I also know that I will do absolutely anything for my son. I'm broken with knowing that the beauty of the moment could end. I honestly can't think of anything this beautiful that has lasted forever.

Which brings us to tonight. Tonight, I'll be giving a speech. I'll be finally telling America about these fears I have, warning everyone for possibly the hundredth time of what's coming for them. Maybe they'll listen; maybe they won't. I just hope, for all of our sake, that they do.

I glance at Nora in the mirror, tilting my head towards her. "You think?" I ask.

She smiles, a laugh in her voice. "Absolutely," she replies. "Now get ready and stop hogging the mirror."

"Right." I commence my daily routine of washing my face, shaving my beard, and brushing my teeth. While drying my face, I jokingly size up my reflection and say, "Hon, do you think my nose looks too big?"

Nora chuckles, reaching around to tweak it. I grin at her and move away from the mirror. "Your turn."

As Nora moves in front of the mirror to begin getting ready, I exit the bathroom. I run a hand through my hair as I walk into the kitchen and Codsworth, our robot butler, greets me cheerfully. "Ah, good morning, sir! Your coffee. 173.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Brewed to perfection!"

"Thanks, Codsworth," I reply, picking the mug up off of the counter and taking a sip. Although Codsworth is basically family now, he's still a robot. I remind Nora of that often, but she still insists on treating him like he's human. He's a well-programmed tin can, sure, but I know from my fair share of science fiction movies that such creatures can easily turn on you. It's best not to get our hopes up.

I take my coffee with me into Shaun's room, grinning as I see the little guy squirming in his cot. I reach down and tickle him on the chest. Gazing out of the window, I can see it's a beautiful day, pretty sunny for the 23rd of October. Maybe we'll take Shaun out into the garden and read him a book, or to Concord with us to watch me give my speech. I tickle Shaun one more time and then leave the room with the door open so I can hear him if he cries. Nora's already out in the kitchen, perfectly manicured and reading a newspaper; she looks up when I come in, that familiar little smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"What?" I ask her.

"Look at you. How did I ever get so lucky?"

I bend down to deliver a chaste kiss, inhaling her sweet floral perfume. "I was about to say the same thing," I reply softly. I hear Shaun hiccup in the background and then begin to wail.

Codsworth, suddenly alert, says, "Ah! Sounds like someone made a stinky. I shall attend to young Shaun." He jets out of the room, Nora and I gazing after him.

"Hmm. You know, I was nervous at first, but Codsworth's really good with Shaun," Nora says.

I shrug. "I suppose."

I head over to the couch, about to sit down, but am interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. "Can you get that?' Nora asks. "It's probably that salesman. He comes for you every day."

Sighing, I set my coffee down on the counter and walk over to open the door, the surprising heat of the day hitting me in the face.

"Good morning!" exclaims the man on our doorstep in a falsely cheerful voice. "Vault-Tec calling!" He's wearing a tan suit with a trilby hat, his long-nosed face split with a wide smile.

I stare at him blankly. "Vault-Tec? Remind me again."

"Why, we're about you, sir, and helping secure your future! You see, Vault-Tec is the foremost bidder of state-of-the-art, underground fallout shelters – vaults, if you will. Luxury accommodations where you can wait out the horrors of nuclear devastation." The man clears his throat. "You can't begin to know how happy I am to finally speak with you! I've been trying for days. It's a matter of utmost urgency, I assure you."

The tension is rising still. Of course I've heard of Vault-Tec. We all have. But I was wondering why the hell there's someone selling it to me on my doorstep. The authorities must be _really_ frantic.

"What's so important?" I ask the salesman warily.

"Why, nothing less than your entire future! If you haven't noticed, sir, this country has gone to heck in a handbasket – if you'll excuse my language. The big _kaboom_ is… it's inevitable, I'm afraid. And coming sooner than you may think, if you catch my meaning…"

This man is repeating my own fears back to me.

"Now, I know you're a busy fellow, so I won't take up much of your time… time being a, um, a _precious commodity_. I'm here today to tell you that because of your family's service to our country, you have been pre-selected for entrance into the local vault!" He gestures widely with his hands. "Vault one-eleven!"

"There's room for my entire family, right?"

"Of course, of course! Minus your robot, naturally."

Naturally.

"In fact, you're already cleared for entrance," the man tells me. "It's just a matter of verifying some information. Don't want there to be any holdups in the unforeseen event of… hehe… total atomic annihilation. Won't take but a moment."

"Well, I can't wait for the world to end," I say sarcastically. The Vault-Tec salesman laughs loudly, too loudly, then says, "That's the spirit. Now, let's see…"

He hands me his clipboard and I fill in my name and signature:

 **Nate Howard**

"Wonderful, that's everything," the salesman says as I hand the clipboard back. "Uh… just gonna walk this over to the vault. Congratulations on being prepared for the future!"

He backs down the driveway and is gone, and I shut the door. "Um… thanks again!"

Nora wraps her arms around my waist from behind and I turn around to face her, hugging her close and resting my chin on the top of her head. "Hey, it's piece of mind. That's worth a little paperwork, right?" she asks.

"For you and Shaun, no price is too high," I reply gruffly.

Nora laughs, the movement vibrating into my chest. She retracts her arms from around me, beaming up at me with her all-consuming smile. "Good answer."

Codsworth interrupts us, jetting into the living room, uncertain in his movements. "Sir, Shaun has been changed, but he absolutely refuses to calm down-"

"Don't worry Codsworth, I got it," I say before he can continue. I leave them in the living room and head back into Shaun's room – he's screaming his head off, writhing and wriggling in his blankets. I quickly reach down and stroke his little face to reassure him, smiling at those eyes that match mine and the cute nose he got from his Mom. "It's okay," I murmur. But inside I'm thinking about what a liar I am, to tell my son everything's all right when it's not.

"How are the two most important men in my life doing?" Nora asks from the doorway. She walks in slowly and joins me by Shaun's crib. "Spin the mobile a bit – he loves that."

I spin it, and we all listen to the tinkling music; Shaun has finally stopped crying, and he watches it in awe. Nora curls her fingers around mine and we stand there for a moment, gazing down at our infant son, united completely for just a few moments. Suddenly, she perks up and says, "Listen, after breakfast I was thinking we could head up to the park for a bit. Weather should hold up."

"Yeah, sounds like fun," I say. I could do with some family time where I'm not thinking about the end of the world and total nuclear annihilation. I squeeze her hand and lean in to kiss her again, so utterly glad that I have her by my side.

And then -

"Sir! Mum! I think you should see this!" comes Codsworth's anxious voice.

Nora's eyebrows drop into a frown. "Codsworth? What's wrong?"

As I leave the room and head towards the television, I wonder if Shaun was crying because he knew what was coming. If somehow he'd known I was lying.

As I enter the living room, I can suddenly hear the sirens in the distance – outside our window I see our neighbors flee across our lawn carrying suitcases. And on the television is the news reporter, sweating in front of the camera, his voice shaking. He's talking about flashes and explosions, how they've lost contact with all the stations and outposts. Nora jogs into the room behind me, Shaun in her arms, her face pale. "Oh no," she whispers.

"… _We do have confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania…"_

The screen suddenly turns blank; there's no signal. My heart is beating in my chest like it wants to get out and flee. So do I. My senses go on full alert and I grab Nora, shouting, "We need to get to the vault! Now!"

"I've got Shaun. Let's go!"

We run out through the front door, just as frantic as all our neighbors. The army is blocking the entrance to Sanctuary, waving us instead through the forest to where they've been constructing Vault 111 for the past few years. There are vertibirds everywhere, and tanks, though I have no idea what they're hoping to do with them. We sprint, overtaking people, crossing the little bridge.

At the entrance to the site of Vault 111, there's a whole crowd of screaming, crying people. "We have to get in!" one lady wails. 'My family, my children-"

"I don't want to die!" someone else yells.

We shoulder through the crowd to the front. The very same salesman who sold a place to my family mere minutes ago is in front of us. "This is absurd! I _am_ Vault-Tec!"

"If your name isn't on the list, you aren't going in," the officer in the gateway snaps.

"I am going in – you can't stop me!"

One of the soldiers at the entrance begins firing up his minigun and the salesman instantly backs down, cringing away. I push him aside and shout, "We need to get in – we're on the list!"

"Infant, adult male, adult female… okay, go ahead."

"Thank you!" Nora says. We pass him into the grounds, following the waving soldiers. "What's going to happen to all those people outside the gate?" she asks.

"We're doing everything we can!" the soldier replies gruffly. "Now move!"

"Stand on the platform, in the center!" another soldier shouts. We do as we're told, stepping onto the blue-and-yellow platform. The sky is blue, and the trees are orange. I find myself viewing the world as if I'm about to leave it. Am I?

I look at Nora and Shaun, anxious. "Almost there," I say. "We're gonna be okay. I love you – both of you."

"We love you too-"

Just as Nora completes her sentence there's a magnificent roaring, like a great pack of lions has torn across the horizon. And then the sky seems to split – I see the orange and grey of an explosion, humungous, bigger than I've ever seen. My vision turns white for a second. "Oh my God!" Nora shrieks.

We all crouch, panting, screaming. The cloud is growing, coming closer and closer. If we don't move now we will die.

Just as it hits the edge of the compound, the lift begins moving, and we're undercover before it can burn us into dust. We sink down into the Earth as the world above is ruined in a blast of fire and smoke and radiation. It will become a scar. And later on, when we finally return to it, we will find the ruins and try to build upon them again. But things will never be the same.

I know this, because war – war never changes.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE:

The cage doors lift, allowing us our first view into what will be our home for at least the next couple of years. Colour coded in blue and yellow.

There are guards waiting, waving us out of the lift. "No need to worry, folks!" says a man in a very tight-fitting blue suit. "We'll get everyone situated in your new home, Vault 111! A better future underground…"

I turn to Nora, hugging her to me, consumed by my own relief at having all three of us alive and together, even if everything we've known is gone. My parents… no, I can't think about them. I can't.

"I love you," I say again to Nora, looking deep into her eyes. She still looks shaken and pale, but she's strong; she won't cry.

"I love you too," she mutters. We kiss, and then follow everyone else up the steps into Vault 111. We each receive a blue Vault-Tec suit from a smiling, caramel-skinned woman. "Uh… what now?" I ask, bundling it in my hands.

"Just follow the doctor here. He'll show you where to go."

"All right, you three," the doctor says jovially, sounding just as falsely cheerful as that salesman did earlier. "Follow me."

We follow him down a corridor, all three of us uncertain and wary of the space. "See?" Nora says. "This is our new home." Shaun hasn't cried; he's silent, aware of his surroundings. Maybe this will be okay, after all. Maybe we'll all be fine.

"Oh, you'll love it here," the doctor says by means of conversation. "This is one of the most advanced vaults – not that the others aren't great, mind you."

All the other new vault-dwellers are just as – if not more – shaken as we are. They're talking about homes being destroyed, families being lost. A whole world gone.

We enter a room filled with two rows of pods facing each other. They each have a window and a control panel, and the doors are open to present padded seats. I feel a tug in my stomach as the doctor leads me to the end of the rows, my old wartime senses telling me that something must be wrong. What are they going to do to us?

"Just step in here and put your vault suit on," the doctor tells me. I do as I'm told, not even worrying about the fact that I'm stripping in front of strangers. These things don't seem to matter anymore. Before I step into the odd capsule, however, I turn to Nora and lean my forehead against hers. Shaun is crying again, perhaps because of the cold, perhaps from shock about all that just happened. I calm him and then gaze at Nora. "I'll be right here," I murmur. "Okay? And I love you two."

"If you keep saying that, it might start to lose its meaning," Nora jokes. But nevertheless, she leans forward and kisses me one last time before I turn away from her, my muscles strung and tense, and step into the capsule. The door closes, hissing as it traps me inside the cold chamber. Through the fogged-up window I see the same happening to Nora – she's got Shaun in her arms still, and she's comforting him. Again, I feel a tingle in my stomach – something is wrong. Something _has_ to be wrong.

"The pod will decontaminate and depressurize you before we head deeper into the vault. Just relax," the doctor says. His explanation makes sense, but I'm still not so sure. I look across at Nora and place my hand against the cool glass, my wedding ring clinking against it. She does the same, and I see her dark eyes sparkling with tears. "Time for a whole new life," I tell myself.

"Resident: secure. Occupant vitals: normal," the voice comes from inside my chamber, registering my bodily processes and heartbeat. "Procedure complete. In…"

Suddenly there seems to be cold air hissing into my pod from all directions. It's freezing, burning me, and I gasp at the sensation as the temperature drops below zero in a matter of seconds. I'm losing consciousness. "Three…two…one…"

The glass freezes over completely, and I let my eyes close… and I drift off into the unknown.

* * *

I'm not aware of much. Only that I can't feel anything in my body, like I've been paralyzed. And everything is so, so cold. Why am I awake? Is it over?

I breathe in deeply, levering open my eyes, noting that my eyelashes have been frozen together. I reach forwards and wipe some of the fog off the window in front of me. Nora's also awake – I can see her looking around, searching for a release so she can get out. I want to call to her, but my vocal cords aren't working properly.

"This is the one." A woman dressed in a sort of hazmat suit has entered my field of vision. She's pointing at Nora's pod. I bang on the window, trying to get her attention, but she doesn't seem to hear. A man, dressed in a black leather jacket, walks around to face Nora's pod, assessing it critically. "Open it."

The woman does as she's told, pressing the button. There's a great hiss as the door to Nora's pod slides open and she coughs in the fresh air. I bang on my window again, ignored completely. Shaun starts crying the instant he feels the temperate air, and the suited woman reaches forward and tries to take him from Nora's arms. She clings on, still coughing. "No – I've got him!"

"Let the boy go," the man growls, raising an object I know all too well. I begin banging on my window frantically now, wishing I could scream as well. What's happening? Why are they taking Shaun? Why are they pointing a gun at my wife? "I'm only going to tell you once."

"I'm not giving you Shaun!" Nora shouts.

There's a great bang, and a flash – I stop slamming on my window, simply because my arms have gone limp. I think I might pass out. I mouth Nora's name, watching as she slumps back in her seat and the woman takes my baby. _Shaun._

The man lowers his hand, waving the woman off. "Better get outta here. Let's go."

Before he walks out, he comes right up to my pod, peering in at me. I bang on the window, imagine smashing his face between my hands. Riveting him with bullet holes. "Least we still have the backup," he says, smirking.

I begin to open my mouth, to yell, but cold air is already filling my chamber again. I'm taken involuntarily by sleep and cold. My wife is dead; my son is gone. And I am frozen in time.

* * *

I don't know how long it's been. I don't know what time it is, what day it is – hell, I don't even know what year it is.

The moment I wake up again, I am grieving. I have tears frozen against my face, shed for my beautiful, wonderful Nora. For the son they took from me. _Shaun_.

I bang twice on the window, panting and seeing my breath create steam before me. The mechanized voice speaks: "Cryogenic array. Resident must vacate immediately."

The door hisses open and I stumble out, my muscles like rubber. My hands clutch at a frozen, icy floor. My knees impact the ground and sting. I scrabble to get to Nora's pod, shuddering with unsteady breaths, and press the button on her control panel, snapping, "Come on, come on!"

The door opens, and I duck under it. She's still frozen, her skin hard like rock, her pretty face outlined with ice. Each tendril of hair encapsulated in it. Like an ice sculpture, beautiful but cold. Distant.

Dead.

I expected myself to cry, to yell, to punch something. Instead, all I feel is quiet sort of anger, a hope for revenge. Very slowly, I slip the wedding ring I gave her off her delicate finger and tuck it into my vault suit. I don't want to touch her; I don't think I can bear it. "I'll find who did this," I say quietly. "And get Shaun back. I promise."

Because I know for certain that whoever did this must die. And Shaun, my son, is all I have left of the love of my life. If I don't find him, I will die trying.

I jog out of the room, pulling the lever to open the sliding door. I'm back in the corridor near the entrance of the vault. Just one more door to go. I try pulling the lever, but it seems to be stuck – of course. Life wouldn't make this easy for me. I guess I'll have to take a detour.

I turn and go through the door on my right. There are stairs; I leap down them and, through the window, see a shape move and jump out of view. What was that? Wary, I grab the security baton left abandoned on a crate and head through the next door. Another corridor, and another door. I pass through both with only the intention of getting out.

In the next room, I finally see another living thing.

It leaps at me, hissing, sheeny wings fluttering as it aims for the kill. I whack it hard with the baton, sending it flying and crashing into the wall. "Giant… roaches?" I whisper to myself. I kick at its carcass, rolling it over, and shudder.

Shaking my head, I leave it and step into the generator room. There are three more cockroaches in here, and I kill every single one of them before advancing on into the next corridor. Is everyone dead except me and the roaches?

Some more roaches – whack, whack, whack, whack. They're all dead, and my baton is covered with slimy blood.

Finally, I find I'm getting somewhere. I enter a room with a computer and the skeleton of a dead doctor. There's a 10mm pistol on the counter, and I pick it up along with all the ammo I can find. There's a cryolator, a great big gun which I've only ever heard stories about, sitting in a locked case, but I decide to leave it. I've got no bobby pins on me, and I'm certainly not good enough at lockpicking to get it out. I sit down at the computer and open it up. There are a few updates and info messages, but all I care about is getting out. I open the evacuation tunnel and then stand up, grabbing my gun. Time to get the hell out of here.

There are loads of roaches in this tunnel, but luckily I'm a pretty damn good shot. I kill them all before they notice me and then pass through the tunnel out into a place I recognize: the entrance. Another two skeletons in lab coats, and another two roaches to kill. I find some 10mm ammo for my gun and then, prize of all prizes, a pip-boy. It's a portable computer that was still in development the last I heard. Only the obscenely rich owned them. Well, finders keepers.

I buckle it to my own wrist, letting it boot up, and then figure out how to connect it to the control panel and open the door. I let out a sigh of pent-up anxiety and grief as the mechanism begins its work. I stand back as the giant metal vault door is rolled off its hinges, then jump onto the moving platform as it takes me towards where the lift is. I skid down the stairs and run to it, wanting nothing more than to be away from this terrible ghost place. Where my wife's body lies and will probably lie forever. This is her grave, and I have no right to be here.

When the lift arrives, I hurriedly step onto it. In a reflective panel to the side I see my reflection. I look exactly the same as I did before all of this. Except now I'm a quarter of the man I once was.

The lift hums, and I lean back against the metal as it carries me back up to the surface. I have my fingers crossed that it won't be a total wasteland, that there actually is something I'm fleeing to. After all, if Shaun isn't here, he must be out there.

And I'm going to find him.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Sunlight. It's so bright and so unexpected that it blurs my vision entirely. I throw my arms in front of my face, gasping, my senses assaulted with the sounds, smells, and tastes of the new world I'm in. As my vision clears, shock hits me like a punch to the stomach.

Sanctuary was once a pretty suburban town filled with white picket fences, gated in by a creek. Now, it's rubble. And the green of the vegetation has become the colors of rust-brown and yellow. The trees have all been stripped of their leaves; a haze seems to hang in the distance; all the roads seem to have been cracked and upturned.

The world is dead.

Stumbling, I make my way back down the path, back through the gate of the compound which is scattered with bones and remnants of clothing. I can barely think of anything else other than the fact that I was last here with Nora and Shaun. Even then, when the world was ending, I had them. Now I have nothing. Nothing but this stupid vault suit, two wedding rings, a gun, and a security baton.

I am in shock.

Sanctuary is marked on the map of my pip-boy the moment I enter the town – I hear the beep. But I don't care. Is there anyone alive out here? Am I the only survivor of an apocalypse? I bend over all of a sudden and upheave everything in my stomach, which doesn't happen to be anything at all. Just acid and drool. It doesn't help me feel any better.

Nora, I think. Shaun.

How did this all happen?

I stumble down the road towards where my house used to be, seeing something moving across the overgrown lawn… Codsworth? My breath hitches and I begin to jog towards him.

Registering my approach after a few seconds, he turns to face me. "As I live and breathe!" Codsworth sounds like he's going to burst into tears. "It's-it's… it's really you!"

"Codsworth…" I say, breathless. "What happened to the world?"

"The world, sir? Well… you'll find our geraniums are still the envy of Sanctuary Hills! I'm afraid things have been perfectly dull around here." He perks up. "Things will be so much more exciting with you and missus back! Where is your better half, by the by?"

Another pang in my stomach as I remember for the hundredth time that she's gone. And I will never feel her, smell her, see her ever again. It's over. But my instincts have kicked in; I know that my survival counts on how I conduct myself. And I need to survive to find Shaun.

I stumble over my words: "They came into the vault… maybe you saw them? Armed, wearing strange outfits."

"Hmm. Only Ms. Rose's boy running around in his Halloween costume. A week early. I swear, the nerve of that woman leaving her brat unsupervised. Ha-ha, not by this family, sir! You and the missus have always been such a… responsible couple. Uh… where is she, by the by?"

Again, the reminder. And the pang in my chest where my heart hasn't really thawed after I was unfrozen. I don't know why I'm bothering to get anything out of Codsworth – his circuitry's obviously been fried or something. He doesn't seem to have noticed that everything's changed.

"They…" I swallow. "They killed her."

"Sir, these things you're saying, these terrible things… I believe you need a distraction! Yes, a distraction to calm this dire mood. It's been ages since we've had a proper family activity. Checkers, or perhaps charades. Shaun does so love that game! Is the lad, er, with you?"

"He's gone," I snap, frustration rising. "Goddammit. Someone took him! Someone stole my son!"

"It's worse than I thought," Codsworth says sluggishly. "You're suffering from hunger-induced paranoia. Not eating properly for two hundred years will do that, I'm afraid!"

My frustration is immediately replaced with shock. "Two hundred years? What? Are you-?"

"A bit over two hundred and ten actually, sir. Give or take a little," Codsworth corrects me. "The Earth's rotation and some minor dings to the old chronometer, ha-ha. That means you're two centuries late for dinner! Perhaps I can whip you up a snack? You must be famished." He laughs, and shudders a little on the spot like his thrusters are malfunctioning.

"Codsworth, you're acting a little bit weird. What's wrong?"

Codsworth seems to break apart before me. "I-I-oh sir, it's been just horrible! Two centuries with no one to talk to, no one to serve! I spent the first ten years trying to keep the floors waxed, but nothing gets nuclear fallout off of vinyl wood! Nothing!"

"Stay with me, pal," I say. "Focus."

"I'm afraid I don't know anything, sir. The bombs came and all of you left in such a hurry. I thought for certain you and your family were… dead!" He sniffs.

I nod slowly, understanding him entirely.

Before I can speak, though, he seems to recover all of a sudden. "Now, enough feeling sorry for myself. Shall we search the neighborhood together? The missus and young Shaun may turn up yet."

I roll my eyes; he still hasn't understood. But somehow, even though I know he's just a robot, I don't want to ruin everything and make him feel like I do now. Let him believe a little and find out for himself. "All right," I say, already knowing this will be a waste of time. "Lead the way."

"Out to serve, sir!"

He leads me to the first house, inside which are a group of giant flying bugs – more of them? Great – and where I find a stash of bottle caps (which confuses me until Codsworth tells me they're the currency now) and some more resources I could use on my journey. The next house holds about the same. There's some food in the fridge: Salisbury steaks, Sugar Bombs, Instamash – more bottle caps and stimpacks, and three more festering bloatflies. I help Codsworth kill the flies and am about to go searching for more useful items when he calls for me: "Sir… the family isn't here either. They're really gone, aren't they?"

I grit my teeth and say, "Shaun's out there, Codsworth. I need to find him."

"What about Concord, sir? The people there… the last time I checked, they only pummeled me with sticks a few times before I had to run away."

"There's still people alive in Concord?" The idea of finding people, actual living people, takes my breath away. It's a pretty large step from the gigantic insects and robot butler I've been dealing with thus far.

"Yes, although they're a bit rough. You remember the way? Just across the southern footbridge out of the neighborhood and past the Red Rocket station?"

I nod.

"I will wait here and secure the homestead," he declares.

"Right," I mutter under my breath. "You do that."

I part from Codsworth without so much as a goodbye. My mind is set only on the next thing, then the next. At the end of it all I hope there's Shaun, my baby. My son. And I can finally find redemption in the form of wreaking revenge on whoever took him.

* * *

I find the dog at the Red Rocket station. He's just pawing around at the rubble, searching for food, whining to himself. At first I'm wary – I raise my gun as he trots towards me, but lower it when I see he's simply excited to see me. "Hey, boy," I mutter uncertainly. "What're you doing out here all by yourself?"

The dog barks joyfully and sniffles at my open hand. Ever since I was a boy, I'd always wanted a dog. I would have gotten one with Nora had she not been allergic.

Slowly, I crouch down, scratching him behind the ears. "Where's your owner, buddy?"

The dog cocks its head at me. "Okay, then," I decide. "Let's stick together."

After all, a lively dog is better than flying bugs or a mentally unstable robot.

We travel together into Concord; I break into a few of the houses to search for food and medication, and we pass an odd carcass as we enter the city: it's a rather lumpy, hairless cow with… two heads. I try to ignore this disparity and concentrate instead on killing the gigantic mosquitoes which were swarming it. It sort of sucks that the only unnatural wildlife I've seen so far are gigantic bugs. Maybe a live, two-headed cow would be nice, come to think of it.

It's not long until I can hear the popping and cracking of gunfire in the distance. Codsworth wasn't kidding; this place really is rough. Sandbags have been piled high to be used as cover, and there are spent shell casings everywhere, rolling under my feet. My companion cocks his head at the sound, panting, and then bounds off towards it like a maniac. I raise my pistol and jog after him, hissing at him to stop.

As we round the building ahead of us, I finally see the shooters – a scattering of people dressed in grungy rags, some with hoods and goggles over their faces, yelling menacingly as they shoot at the Museum of Freedom.

I'm not stupid; I can tell who the bad guys are.

I shoot the closest man point blank in the back of the head, and he falls with a gurgling yell. Bullets whistle past as I duck behind a car, reloading as fast as possible. My dog hurdles past me and bounds right into one of our assailants, paws on his chest while he rips off the man's face. He falls, providing a distraction so I can leap up again and shoot the other three consecutively, the gun recoiling sharply in my hands. Each of them hit the ground hard, twitching as they die, and the air soon smells of smoke and gunpowder. I search the empty road for more enemies, but there are none. Pity, I decide, that the first humans I come across I have to kill.

I check their corpses for better weapons, but they only have makeshift pipe rifles and pistols. Sticking with my 10mm pistol is perhaps the best chance I've got our here. They do, however, have some leather armor which could be useful to me. I put it on over my vault suit and collect more 10mm ammo, glad for the extra carrying space. As I pass below the balcony of the Museum of Freedom, a voice calls down to me: "Hey, you!"

It's a man in a cowboy-type hat, holding a large laser musket. He isn't shooting at me, so it seems he might be friendly. "I've got I group of settlers inside! Grab that laser musket and help us. Please!"

He disappears from view and runs back inside, and I'm left feeling unsure whether or not to be a nice guy or to just leave and find my son. Then again, I've always played the nice guy.

"Come on," I say to the dog, picking the discarded laser musket off of the museum's front steps. At last, a useful upgrade. "Let's do this."


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

The moment I step inside the museum I'm forced to close the door again to avoid a hail of bullets. I count to three, crouch, and then sprint wildly for cover on the inside of a corridor, bullets smacking into the rotting wooden planks beside me. Cranking up the laser musket, I twist my upper body and swing it around, aiming at my nearest enemy: a woman wearing a green harness and carrying a crude pipe rifle. The laser musket literally blasts her to smithereens, and I duck back into cover as answering bullets splinter the wood right by my face. I change tactics, leaving the front hall and sprinting further into the building, leaping over discarded mannequins and old-age weapons.

On the inside of the building, I can see the floor has completely caved in, allowing view of the basement. Ducking yet more bullets, I run towards the security-locked cage at the bottom, halting curiously by the caged-in machines. "Huh," I say to myself. "Locked?"

I could never help being attracted to a challenge.

I power up the terminal, allowing myself a quick smile as I figure out the code – four letters, just a case of presuming which ones go where. There's a satisfying click as the door unlocks, and I shoulder my weapon as I pull it open and check out the machine.

Ah, a fusion core.

Even having only been inside one suit of power armour in my whole life, I can understand why so many people think them precious. One fusion core could power a whole building for weeks. I grab it from its port and buckle it onto my belt, knowing it could come in useful later. Then, cracking my knuckles, I head back out into battle.

One man is on the landing above me; he grins manically as he shoots, yelling obscenities to deter me. I silence him with one shot of my musket, and he falls like a ragdoll to the floor below. As I climb the stairs, I note that there are only two visible enemies left. I shoot one in the leg from where I'm standing and then roll out of the way as he fires back aimlessly. He stumbles, bleeding, and I shoot him once more; this time in the stomach. He falls, slumping onto his own gun.

Fifteen bullets left.

I stay out of sight as I climb the stairs to the next floor, only narrowly missed by a bullet that streaks past my head and thuds into the wall beside me. I react instinctively, shooting in the direction I know my enemy is; an answering shriek of pain and then silence tell me that I've succeeded in killing them. Now to find the man who asked me in here in the first place – top floor, maybe? The dog, whining still, looks up at me mournfully. "Come on," I say, scratching his head. "Let's go."

I take a short cut up to the third floor, wanting to be careful in case more enemies are lying in wait. Before I have time to duck or react to protect myself, I'm whacked hard in the face with the end of a pool cue. I stumble, seeing stars, and the enemy I hadn't prepared for advances on me, chuckling. As he brings the cue down to hit me again, my new best friend streaks past me and barrels into him, growling and digging his teeth into the man's arm.

See, the one problem with using such a long weapon is it's slow; too slow. And you need a lot more power to use it. Which is why this guy failed.

I get up and knee him in the stomach while my dog yanks at his arm. He spits blood, falling forwards onto the floor, and I quickly unholster my pistol and bury two bullets into his skull. Dead, dead, dead. Just like his friends.

I walk away before he's even hit the floor, wiping blood from my broken nose. The dog sniffs at his body and then follows me, tail wagging. As I round the wall, I see a door at the end of the hallway open; standing in it with his gun raised is the man who called to me for help. He sees me and lowers her gun, relieved, waving me towards him. He has a gentle, weathered face, and he's wearing a long brown coat and hat; he looks like a sheriff from the old west.

"Man, I don't know who you are, but your timing's impeccable," he tells me as I walk into the room. I can tell he's impressed.

The man isn't alone; in the room are several more people, all looking exhausted and worried, staring at me as I enter. I'm not surprised by their expressions, since I probably look pretty terrible: blood streaming down my face, my beard already growing back, my eyes bloodshot from unshed tears, face haggard.

Their leader shifts in his stance. "I'm Preston Garvey. Commonwealth minutemen."

"Glad to help," I reply genuinely, still attempting to staunch the warm flow of blood leaking from my nose. I can't even feel the pain – my senses have been numbed by everything that's happened.

"Well, if that's true, we could use some more good will. As you can see, we're in a bit of a mess here." He gestures to the rest of the people in room – I look at them more closely, sizing them up. There's an old woman with hazy, bloodshot eyes sitting on the couch. A very upset-looking Asian woman is pacing the room, her husband sitting on the floor by her and rocking back and forth. And, finally, there's a man with a pompadour hairstyle dressed in greasy overalls, tinkering away at a terminal. They're an odd-looking bunch, but I'd be a hypocrite if I mentioned such a thing out loud.

"Please, go on," I say.

"A month ago, there were twenty of us. Yesterday there were eight. Now we're five." He frowns, getting angrier by the second. "First it was the ghouls in Lexington, and now this mess!"

"Ghouls? What are ghouls?" Nothing in this world is making sense anymore. I'm in a fantasy land full of giant insects, two-headed animals, minutemen and ghouls. I'm in hell.

"Wow," Preston says, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "You really aren't from around here, are you? Ghouls are… irradiated people. Most are just like you and me – they look pretty messed up and live for a long time but they're still just people. The ones I'm talking about are different. The radiation's rotted their brains, made them feral. They'll rip you apart just as soon as look at you." He contains himself, shifting his musket into another hand. "Anyway, we thought Concord would be a safe place to settle. Those raiders proved us wrong. But… well, we do have one idea."

 _Raiders_ , I think. _Raiders are the new terrorists. The resident assholes._

"One good idea could make all the difference," I reply seriously. The dog, having sat at my feet, pants as if in agreement.

Preston glances at the man in overalls and says, "Sturges, tell him."

The mechanic turns to me, his eyes seeming to light up. "There's a crashed Vertibird up on the roof. Old school; pre-war. You might've seen it. Well, looks like one of it's passengers left behind a seriously sweet goodie: we're talking a full suit of cherry T-45 power armour, military issue."

I whistle under my breath, impressed. "I like it."

"Knew you would!" Sturges says. "And, once you're in the suit, you can rip that minigun off the vertibird and blow those raiders straight to hell, you dig?"

I nod slowly, liking the idea even more.

"Now," Sturges says, leaning back against the desk. "As for the power armour, it's outta juice. Probably has been for a hundred years. It can be powered up again, but… we're a bit stuck."

"I'll help if I can."

"What you'll need is an old pre-war FC – a standardised fusion core," Preston tells me. When my face remains artfully blank, he continues, "Your high grade nuclear battery? Used by the military and some companies way back when. And we know right where to find one…"

"But," Sturges interrupts, "we can't get to the damn thing. It's down in the basement, locked behind a security gate." He sighs. "Look, I fix stuff. I tinker. But bypassing security ain't exactly my forte. You could give it a shot."

"Actually," I say, plucking the fusion core I collected out of my belt loop and waving it at them, "I already got it."

Both of them grin in surprise. "Well, all right," Preston says. "Maybe our luck's finally turning around. Once you jack the core into the power armour and grab that minigun, those raiders'll know they picked the wrong fight. Good luck."

I nod sharply at him and then tap my dog once on the head. "Come on, boy."

We head together out the other door at the end of the room, which leads to the roof. As we walk, I fiddle with my pip-boy, seeing that Concord has been mapped on just like Sanctuary – it's a pretty damn nifty piece of tech.

I shove open the door to the roof, having to smash it with my shoulder twice before it gives way and swings open on its rusted hinges. Just as Sturges said, there's a crashed vertibird just sitting on the roof, a darkened shell of what it once was. And beside it, the power armour – missing a few plates, but still providing much more protection than any other armour could. I walk over, fusion core clutched tightly in my hand, and then shove it straight into the slot at the back of the armour. I also twist the wheel, and the armour hisses and slides open for me to climb in. I have to press myself against the padded interior correctly, fitting my face into the helmet, and then press a button in the armour's fingertips to seal it behind me. It beeps several times and the system blinks on, scanning the roof around me. "Perfect," I whisper. I test it out, sliding my arms and legs, crouching so I can test how flexible the joints are. It all seems to be in working order.

Now in mission mode, I stomp over to the vertibird and rip the minigun off its turret, stepping through and lining myself up with the edge of the roof. My adrenaline is rising, overtaking any apprehension I may have.

More raiders have begun to gather down below, and the moment they see my great hulking shape standing on the edge of the roof, they begin to shoot. The bullets ping uselessly off the metal of my armour as I bring the minigun up and aim in their general direction. They barely have time to run for cover as it spins up and begins peppering the road below with red-hot bullets, so loudly that I find myself wincing. Five die instantly, but the rest manage to get to safety.

I switch the minigun to my right hand, inhale deeply, and then jump right off of the roof, aiming for a raider shooting from behind a stack of sandbags. The tremor my landing causes makes his legs buckle, and he cries out; I switch to my pistol to shoot him twice in the chest, then spin and throw my security baton through the air towards the woman hiding behind a bookcase in the convenience store. Won't be needing that anymore. She stumbles back, stunned, and I shoot her five times to make sure she's dead.

I hear the familiar sound of a laser musket and gaze up to see Preston standing on the balcony, aiding me from above. I signal to him to be careful, then fire up the minigun again; this time, only two raiders are mowed down – they're not a stupid as they seem, and they've already figured out my tactics. I run towards the end of the road, where some of them have fled to, and am forced to duck a raider with a shotgun – he's shooting wildly, prancing from side to side. I punch him hard in the face, and the metal fist of my power armour crumples his features, rupturing his brain. He collapses, gun clattering to the floor, and I turn to the next raider – she's in the building beside me, shooting from above. Caught off balance by one of her bullets, I spin to face her, and just as I raise the minigun again I hear something which chills me to the very bone:

The drains to my left explode open, and out of them climb a monster that must be about ten feet tall, releasing a bloodcurdling roar that makes my hairs stand on end. It's vast and black, with jagged teeth and claws each the length of my arm, all ending in well-sharpened points.

"DEATHCLAW!" one of the raiders shouts. He turns and flees, joined by a few of his comrades as the monster climbs fully out of the drain and thrusts its head in the air. I stumble backwards, shocked.

And I'd thought I'd seen everything.

Some of the remaining raiders bravely – or just stupidly – begin to shoot at the creature. It roars in pain, bounding over to them and ripping at them with its gigantic claws. They die gurgling for help, their bodies literally split open by its claws. The deathclaw next turns to me, a glint of malice in its bottomless black eyes.

The dog – my new, valiant dog – growls and leaps towards the monster, aiming for one of its reptilian claws. It slams its tail into him impatiently and he goes flying, whimpering as he lands and skids to a stop, no longer moving.

My shock halts; it blazes into fury. No one hurts my dog.

With a war cry, I spin up the minigun and aim it right at the deathclaw. The bullets tear into its reptilian skin, ushering inky blood from the wounds; the deathclaw wails and bounds towards me with intent to kill. I roll out of the way, still shooting – any time now, I'm thinking. Any time I will fill it with enough holes to make it die.

The deathclaw catches me in the head with a glancing blow and I almost pass out from the impact. I literally spin on the spot and crash into the side of a building, causing the bricks to cave in. My power armour beeps in warning; my helmet's status is very low, and soon it will be ejected from the power frame's skeleton. I spit out blood, ignoring the pain, and push myself up straight, dodging as the deathclaw charges at me again. I press the minigun's trigger, yelling as again I fill its body with red-hot lead. The creature roars again, one last time, turning to claw at me – this turns out to be its last mistake. When it turns, I have better access to its head, and the bullets end up bursting straight out through the back of its skull. With one last massive groan, it slumps sideways onto the asphalt, dead, and I cease my fire.

I'm breathing heavily inside the damaged helmet of my suit, sweating profusely. I can't believe I'm still alive. I drop the minigun, having run out of 5mm bullets, and find my hands are shaking within the power armour. A warning flashes in the lower corner of my screen, letting me know that it's about to run out of battery and I won't be able to walk in it anymore. Sighing, I press the button to eject and step out. It unfolds, and I stumble backwards, crouching for a second on the pavement to right myself. The breeze is cool on my face and in my hair, and the air has never felt better in my lungs.

My dog whimpers, and I become alert once again; grabbing my pistol, I run over to him and skid to a halt. Just one stimpack should do the trick – looks like he's got a few broken ribs, bless the thing. I inject him and then stroke his muzzle, thinking hard.

Today has been one of the longest days of my life, and not for no small reason. I've been cryogenically frozen for two hundred years; I've watched my wife be killed in front of my eyes and my son be taken away; I've been attacked by flying insects of all sizes of shapes; I've emerged into a world so far from the one I remember that I might as well be on a different planet; I've been shot at by raiders; I've been almost eaten by a giant reptilian monster…

Well, it's been a hard day.

After a while, as the stimpack's incredible healing effects begin to register, the dog gets up and begins to limp around me, tail wagging. I stroke his back, running my fingers through his fur. "Dogmeat," I decide finally, smiling. "That's what I'll call you, boy."

It's perfect. A morbid sort of joke in this arid wasteland of Massachusetts. It'll be me and Dogmeat against the world.

Together, Dogmeat and I stand up and begin our slow walk back to the Museum of Freedom.


End file.
